You might think talent is the key to successful publication. But talent, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder, and even talented writers sometimes fail to obtain publication. There are two virtues that are the key to publishing success: patience and persistence.
While it is true that you may never publish a bad poem no matter how hard you try, you need both patience and persistence to publish even a good poem. It’s simple: the more poems you submit and the more magazines you research, the more poetry you will publish. Even published poets receive at least ten rejections for every one acceptance. Be patient with rejection, and be persistent in your submission process. Keep a record of your current submissions, and keep a separate list of rejections. This will ensure that you don’t accidentally send a rejected poem to the same magazine twice, and it will enable you to keep sending poetry to an array of magazines. Each editor’s preference is different: if you persist in submitting your poetry to different magazines, it is probable that one or more editors will like your work and snatch it up.
Now you’re ready to begin the submission process. So dig in to a market guide of your choice, and find the magazine that is itching to publish your poem!